Fall 2022

Lens of Border Culture

Listed in: Political Science, as POSC-235

Faculty

Lorne Falk (Section 01)

Description

This course will look at globalization through the lens of border culture, a term that refers to the "deterritorialized" experience of people when they move or are displaced from their context or place of origin. How are people’s experience of belonging and understanding of identity affected by borders within the realms of language, gender, ideology, race, and genres of cultural production as well as geopolitical locations? What does it mean to live between two cultures—an experience that in 2019 might well represent the nature of contemporary life? We will explore these questions by examining the political and aesthetic impact of global processes such as the unprecedented turbulence of migration, the persistent threat of terrorism, and the perplexing influence of communications technologies. Readings will include the voices of artists, critics, historians, cultural theorists, anthropologists, and philosophers, including Gloria Anzaldúa, Arjun Appadurai, Homi Bhabha, Michel Foucault, Guillermo Gómez-Peña, Derek Gregory, Trinh T. Minh-ha, Nikos Papastergiadis, Edward Said, Gianni Vattimo, and Eyal Weizman.

Limited to 24 students. Fall semester. Visiting Lecturer Falk.

How to handle overenrollment: Priority first given to fourth-year students, then to a balance of sophomores and juniors, randomly determined, followed by first-year students and 5-college students.

Students who enroll in this course will likely encounter and be expected to engage in the following intellectual skills, modes of learning, and assessment: Emphasis is on written work, readings, independent research, oral presentations, and group work.

POSC 235 - LEC

Section 01
Tu 10:00 AM - 11:20 AM SCCE C101
Th 10:00 AM - 11:20 AM SCCE C101

ISBN Title Publisher Author(s) Comment Book Store Price
Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza Aunt Lute Books Gloria Anzaldua Amherst Books TBD
Lipstick Jihad: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America and American in Iran PublicAffairs Azadeh Moaveni Amherst Books TBD
Cosmopolitanism and Culture Polity Nikos Papastergiadis Amherst Books TBD
Exiles, Diasporas and Strangers MIT Press Kobena Mercer This is only a recommended book Amherst Books TBD
Ethno-Techno: Writings on Performance, Activism and Pedagogy Routledge Guillermo Gómez-Peña and Elaine A. Peña This is only a recommended book Amherst Books TBD
Globalization Duke University Press Arjun Appadurai This is only a recommended book Amherst Books TBD

These books are available locally at Amherst Books.

Offerings

Other years: Offered in Fall 2022